Hugh Bonneville Will Be Roald Dahl For A New Biopic

Hugh Bonneville

by James White |
Published on

While many of his books have been adapted into movies and TV shows, there hasn't been as much drawn directly from Roald Dahl's life. Now Hugh Bonneville will play the author in a new biopic that will focus on one particular chunk of his life.

John Hay is directing the untitled film based on a script he wrote with David Logan, his collaborator on TV drama Lost Christmas. Based partly on Stephen Michael Shearer's novel An Unquiet Life, it'll be set in the early 1960s and will explore Dahl's struggles to create some of his most famous books while also navigating his marriage to actress Patricia Neal.

“This film tracks the personal triumphs and tragedies behind the marriage of two globally known superstars," says Goldcrest Film's Pascal Degove, who is financing the film through the company. "John and David’s excellent script is an audience pleasing portrayal of Roald and Patricia’s touching love story backgrounded by the cinematic sweep of the swinging sixties." The cameras should be rolling later this year.

Bonneville, last seen in Viceroy's House, is part of the cast for Andy Serkis' Breathe, due on 27 October and is back for the Paddington sequel, which arrives on 10 November.

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